1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an electronic control device that comprises a case in which a circuit board having a heat generating part mounted thereon is installed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In Japanese Laid-open Patent Application (tokkai) 2009-224708, there is disclosed an electronic control device which comprises a case that is made of a metal having a high thermal conductivity, a plastic bus bar board that is installed in the case and placed on a shelf portion defined by the case and a printed circuit board that is mounted over the bas bar board. To the bus bar board, there is connected a MOSFET (viz., metal oxide silicon field effect transistor) through drain, gate and source terminals. As is known, the MOSFET is an electric element that generates heat when electrically energized.
For promoting a heat radiation from the MOSFET to cool the same, the MOSFET is placed on a flat part of the case in a manner to make an intimate contact to the flat part. That is, the flat part of the case is used as a so-called heat sink.